How to add a new WordPress user to your website

In this lesson, you will learn how to add a new WordPress user to your website. this will allow you to add users as administrators, editors, authors, contributors and subscribers. Other plugins may add additional roles which you can also add using this same method.

In this lesson onhow to add a new WordPress user to your website, we will describe what capability each role has. This will allow you to more carefully add new users to your website. Let’s begin.

1. Hover over users and select add new user

2. You will be taken to the following screen where the magic will begin

3. Begin by adding a username. This is a required field. Be careful with this field as it cannot be changed later. Like all usernames, it can be any combination of letters, numbers and characters. It’s advised not to use the username admin.

4. Enter the email address associated with the new account. This is a required field. It is advisable to make sure the email is correct as the new user may receive the new account details to this email address

5. Enter the users first name and last name in the appropriate fields. These fields are optional

6. Website. If the user has their own website you can enter it here. Please be aware that if the user website field is entered it may be visible on their profile to the general viewing public. This field is optional.

7. Password. By default the user will be able to set their own password when they create an account and login for the first time. You as teh administrator also have the ability to set their account password or generate a new random one. Simply click the show password button and it will open the password field as below.

8. Send User Notification. If you enable this option it will send the new user an email about their account. We recommend setting this option to checked.

9. Roles. We will explain the roles in more detail as an incorrectly set role can cause confusion for your users or possibly open your website to unknown vulnerabilities.

• Subscriber: This is the lowest level of user on your website and is often reserved for readers who have subscribed to comments, rss feeds or newsletters. This role grants very limited capabilities. The only content they can create is restricted to comments if comments are enabled. They can also edit their own profile and access posts and pages that are restricted to subscribers.
• Contributor. A contributor in WordPress has a role very similar to an author, but it’s more restricted. This role is commonly used in larger multi-author websites or websites that accept gues blogging to avoid problems with editing or deleting the wrong post. A user with the role of a contributor can add and edit their own posts but cannot edit or delete a published post. This means that while they are creating a post and it is in draft mode they can continue to edit it, but once it has been published they lose all control over the post.
• Author. An author in WordPress has publishing capabilities which are slightly more powerful than a contributor. An author can edit and delete their own posts once they have been published as well as upload files. The author role can also edit their own profile and change their own password. The biggest risk of the author role is that they may delete their own content if they are fired or edit to include misleading information or dangerous material. The author role is best reserved for users who you know and trust.
• Editor. Think of an editor role as that of an editor at a newspaper or magazine. This role is the most powerful non-administrator role. This role should only be reserved for the most trusted members of your website.
  An editor can not only create and edit posts but they can also edit and delete any post on the website, even those not created by them. An editor can also add and edit categories and tags, upload files and manage comments, including moderating, approving and removing comments. This role also allows them to edit and read private posts.
  The role of the editor is restricted to that of content. They don’t have access to themes and plugins like an administrator does. They cannot edit plugin or theme files or change any other settings on the site. Any user in this role will not be able to assist with website management or maintenance.
• Administrator. This is the most powerful role and is usually reserved for the website owner. Times may arise where you will need additional administrators, such as when you are employing the services of a website administrator or when granting access to a plugin or theme author. An administrator has full capabilities on a WordPress website. They can add and remove themes and plugins, edit files, add and remove users. The administrator can also manage content by adding and removing any post and page, changing or adding categories and tags. They can also assign content to other users when removing a past user. It’s for this reason that the role of administrator should be closely reserved for only trusted users.
  As a failsafe, I usually recommend adding a second admin for yourself using a different username and password. The reason for this is if you happen to forget the login details for one account you can still gain access to your website, or should the user role suddenly be set to none or removed by a malicious actor, you will still be able to gain access with the second account.

10. Select the role you wish to give the user from the list of roles above.

Once you are happy with the settings click Add new user

That’s it. You’ve successfully added a new user and now you know how to add a new WordPress user to your website. If the option to send the user their details was enabled they will receive an email that contains a link to the login page and be able to reset their password. They can then login and have access to the areas they are permitted access to.

As with all roles, there are plugins available that will allow you to modify their priveledges or create new user roles. These plugins can assist you when adding a new user but you don’t want them to have full access to all the default features.

You can learn more about users and their roles from WordPress